Have you ever felt you were living in a nightmare? Well get prepared because that is what you might feel when watching Castlevania. Now the show is not new but has its recent season out, so a review is due. Castlevania is such an amazing mix of horror, gore, and fantasy. The main storyline is dealing with blood-sucking vampires, pun intended, and their hunters. It has so much more than that, too. Draculas’ name used in this show as “Vlad Dracula Tepes” is a real name gotten from a man in history who was a warlord in Romania in the early 1500s and was known as “Vlad III Dracula or Vlad the Impaler”. The Castlevania show starts out in revenge where Draculas’ wife has been killed for practising magic but was actually just an advanced doctor during those times. They burn her as a witch, and Dracula decides the revenge to the humans is to wipe all the humans out. He decides to go to war with his Vampire council and decide on ways to enact his revenge. As usual, Dracula is the antagonist in this show, and we all need heroes.
We are doing another Korean drama review and yes, it is the anticipated series called Move to Heaven. Even the trailer on Netflix can show what a gem this show is. The main characters are family members, a nephew and Uncle who begin to live together after the younger one’s father has passed away. What a rollercoaster. Every episode includes a death and as morbid as those sounds it was amazing to see their stories revealed. Now the nephew Han Geu Ru is played by Tang Jun Sang from the drama Crash Landing on You. His character has the Asperger’s Syndrome, but that does not limit him. He is quite intelligent with a high increase of memorization skills. He could glance at a paper for a few seconds and tell you everything word for word. What an amazing superpower. Would have been useful for studying in school.
Don’t you just love history? It is finally time for another anime review and this is just not only an interesting one it is focused on real life people. Yes, we are talking about Oda Nobunaga, a real-life Feudal lord in Edo Japan who lived in the Sengoku period (mid 1500 century). Oda Nobunaga was a lord who was known as a unifier of Japan for attempting to unite all the cities of Japan but was unfortunately betrayed by one of his trusted generals Akechi Mitsuhide. Oda Nobunaga was forced to perform Seppuku on himself as a final way of suicide (disembowelment) to protect his honor. I have always enjoyed the story around Oda Nobunaga and all the other known figures like Mori Ranmaru his assumed lover and Oda Nobuyuki his brother that he killed for betraying him. What not many people are aware of is that in that time there was a real-life African Samurai who was in the service of Oda Nobunaga called Yasuke.
Do you love ballet? Cause if you don’t it does not matter. You are going to love the drama choice for today. It’s Navillera. Originally a webtoon that was turned into a live drama of 12 episodes of beautiful cinematography found on Netflix and other Korean sites like DramaCool. What should I even say? You just have to watch it to understand what an amazing gem this show is. The themes are about family, having a dream, never giving up and just a lot of emotional topics. You are probably going to need some tissues on the side to watch this. What a rollercoaster but no regrets about watching.
First if you do not know the actor Song Kang, I’ll be a bit surprised but no judgement. He is killing it with most of his shows being aired on Netflix alone for “Love Alarm”, “Sweet Home” and now “Navillera” He is an amazing actor and just being able to see how versatile he is in his roles makes it more exciting. The other main actor is Park in-Hwan who is well known for his role in “Beautiful Heritage”.
It’s time for another Korean drama review that has been entertaining me for a while now. Our Korean drama Queen is back and yes, I am talking about our beautiful Park Shin-Hye. I’ll be surprised if as a drama fanatic she is unknown to you but here is an introduction. Park Shin-Hye is the main actress from dramas including “Heirs”, “You’re Beautiful”, “Memoirs of Alhambra” so many amazing more. 2020 alone has been her year with 2 movies coming out alone for her including zombie themed “Alive” and thriller “CALL” recently aired on Netflix. The male lead actor is Cho Seung-woo who is known very well from his drama “Stranger” also found on Netflix.
The Sisyphus drama is a time traveling drama that focuses on the word ‘regret’. The idea is that humans have a lot of regret and if you could go back to fix things, would you? I really enjoyed it because Park Shin-Hye was kicking butt as usual in this drama with all the action-packed situations but I kind of loved even the romance in it. I was actually happy to see the actors fall in love in the show as it was so cute and believable.
Beyond Evil is an amazing drama filled with a talented cast. I’m still so hooked on it that I am not done watching it but decided to write a review. The drama is a thriller with some dashes of despair and a serial killer on the loose. Our main actors are Policemen and their duty is to find out who has been killing for the past 20 years in a small rural town. Our stars are Shin Ha Kyun from Korean dramas “Mr. Back” and “Soul Mechanic” and our child star actor Yeo Jin Goo from “Hotel del Luna” and “The Crowned Clown”. Great dramas if you have not seen them. The acting is superb and engaging where I can’t seem to look away and the story line is so engaging.
Is there anyone who does not love a good mafia storyline? The best part? It’s connected to a Korean drama. Now I am not going to be offended, but I will be shocked if you as a Korean drama fanatic does not know the name Song Joong-Ki. You may forget his name, but he is popular on his own with such a handsome face. He is from “Descendants of the Sun” , “Arthdal Chronicles” and most recent Multi-language movie “Space Sweepers” To stop drooling let’s move on. Our review today is a drama called Vincenzo currently on Netflix for those who love living easier lives. The drama is about a man named Vincenzo Cassano who is adopted into the mafia world in Italy and raised to be a mafia lawyer.
He returns to Korea to hide from the constant pressure from his adopted brother and future mafia leader and plans to destroy a building that some irregular tenants are living in. The reason is he needs to kick them out of the building to find the money he had stashed. The comedy ensues with such a magnificent cast. The romance in the show is subtle which was something I was excited about, but it has lasting effects due to very attractive male and female lead. The lead actress is Jeon Yeo-been from the Korean movie “After my death”.
Dear Anime World lovers, We are discussing anime that has a sport genre. There are different types of anime that focuses on this genre including even golf. Yes, I am talking about “Dan Doh! The Super Shot”. That was an interesting anime. If you have not watched it or are just curious how golf can be animated, I advise you to watch it. Also, a reminder that this list is not in any order of preference.
The very first sport anime to watch that I advise is a basketball one called “Slam Dunk”. You have probably heard of it and if you haven’t, please you need to know about the beauty of such an anime. Slam dunk is about a delinquent high school student that has no immediate interest in basketball but joins the school team to impress a girl he likes and comes to fall in love with the sport. He is joined by other teammates, and together they compete in matches with other school teams for the Basketball national tournaments. The important detail about slam dunk is how the main character has been able to express his newly gained love for basketball.
Help! That is how I felt when I watched this drama. The idea is new and old at the same time. Time travel. There are other dramas that include time traveling either going to the past like The King: Eternal Monarch by Lee Min Ho or Alice by Joo Won, but I promise this one was different. The show is about a woman who is almost 40 and has not much of a social life. She works for a grocery store and has to put on those plushie costumes to attract clients. She has serious low self-esteem but this all changes when she gets a visit from her loud and obnoxious teenage self. That in itself is a bit different. Never seen a show where they are the same people, so that was exciting in its own way.
The teenage self is quite innocent but aware and causes a lot of problems for her adult self. Imagine the 20 years you back when phones did not even have the ability to take pictures. Imagine what was acceptable then and not now. The number of things you could currently get into trouble for saying or doing are just endless.
Happy New Month Anime lovers! Woo-hoo what a ride. This show was so exciting the last episode made me scream for joy. I enjoyed every single moment of it. Both the ups and down of their situation. The anime is about an apocalyptic world they call living in the “Black”. There are very few survivors left and the anime setting seem to be referencing Australia as there are recognizable accents and locations like Sydney.
The show follows two siblings Taylor an older brother who understands his duty to protect his younger sister and Hayley the younger sister who is always looking for an adventure.
In this world there are demon creatures who are the true enemy to the humans, and they are called “Kaiju” a Japanese term for strange beast or giant monsters. They are being fought by giant monsters created by the humans called “Jaegers” a German name for hunter or huntsman.
The sibling’s parents are registered fighters and due to an emergency had to separate from their children to find help. The children are left behind for five years with others in a smaller community and due to Hayley finding a “Jaeger” they decide to leave and find their parents. The story is so interesting because of the sibling’s connection. It’s nice to watch a show that focuses on family relationship and dependence and not always on romance.
“There is a monster in me”. That is the topic of the day. DOTA is an anime adapted from a video game that has a huge fan base. Most people are already familiar with the plot and are quite obsessed with the story. The story has some resemblance to Dragon’s Dogma with the use of dragons, but to be honest I enjoyed DOTA more. Dragon’s Dogma was a good anime. Check it out if you haven’t. I would say DOTA was a good watch. Watched it all in one day because I was that hooked on it. Even the beginning of how they start, it gets you excited. There is an introduction to all the beings in the land e.g., dragons, gods, demons, elves, man. It’s all in the show and that is already exciting but as you guessed it gets even more exciting because the main character gets to have a surprise at the end of the first episode. Having to live with whom he has become it’s a beautiful storyline of fighting creatures and other humans to survive. It’s quite a bloody show so be prepared if you enjoy seeing blood splats on the screen.
The main character Davion is a Dragon Knight who became orphaned as a child and has dedicated his life to killing all dragons so that they never orphan another young child. That is a serious declaration which he tries to fulfill, and he believes in honouring the dragons as he kills them.
Mirana is the female protagonist a princess of her people. She is a very tough and beautiful character and I love how simple her character looks. There is no emphasis on extra hair colours like other anime she just has brown hair which makes her relatable to most people unlike the normal rainbow theme anime hair colour. She’s a fighter and a sensible woman, and she is on a mission to find the precious lotuses that were stolen from her Kingdom. She travels with her trusted companions a white tiger named Saigon and her body guard a woman named Marci. They all get to meet by chance and that leads to Davion and Mirana’s companions going on a journey to find an answer to each their problem.
Are you married? Cause if you are, your partner is probably cheating on you. That is literally what this whole drama series is about. I am so upset that 16 hours of my life is not something I can regain back. Don’t get me wrong the show was brilliant. It was captivating, and it satisfied my curiosity in married people’s lives, but really why drag the story for so long? After a while the show started romanticizing cheating couples. Like, how could they? The series is a South Korean drama about three women who might not have been saints themselves, are married to men that have decided their life purpose is to be unfaithful to their wives and family. One of them even got their mistress pregnant. I liked the way the women were different as it emphasized that the women were all having 3 different personalities, but it was upsetting to see that their husbands still were unfaithful. One wife was the modern high-class independent woman who knew her rights as a woman and believed in her femininity but sometimes came across as rude, which she really was in some cases. The second woman was a mother of a preteen and understood the need for being a working mum. Made it a point to not be seen as just a housewife so was very involved in her workplace. She had to joggle being a mum and a wife but was quite content in her marriage. The third wife is of the older generation she is a mother of two children, a 20-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy. She believes in hard work and has a job but is also more on the conservative side. She’s feminine but lacks interest in fashion or beauty tips because she is just so focused on her family and the housework. All three women work in the same business. I am going to just give a story of all 3 couples to make it easier to understand.
Couple #1 The husband is a lawyer and married a Radio host. Fell in love with her at first sight but due to her prickly personality and being older in age than him their relationship had always been rocky. I’m not going to deny that the woman was extremely selfish to her husband, but she does not deserve to be cheated on. This couple #1 man is the one who falls in love with an even older woman and impregnates his mistress. The whole family finds out and his parents are torn between being angry for their son’s unfaithfulness to his wife or being elated that they might be grandparents soon. Apparently, the wife never wanted kids which was agreed upon before marriage. I just believe they were an unmatched pair from the beginning and their 3 years together was not enough to understand each other as a married couple.
Anime World 